Most people who left their apartments this weekend in the face of Irene made arrangements for their pets—helped by the fact they were allowed into shelters! Of course there were some exceptions. A few pets went off on their own and a few owners apparently just abandoned their buddies. Like the owner of a 10-foot python found yesterday on the eighth floor of the Howard Houses on Mother Gaston Boulevard in Brownsville. more ›

Why did the snake cross the road? Well, authorities aren't quite sure because it never made it to the other side: a six-foot boa constrictor was found dead on the side of the road in Norwalk, Connecticut yesterday. more ›

Like Henry Walton Jones, we're not very fond of snakes—we're particularly terrified of finding one in the toilet. So why anyone would willingly live with them, let alone sleep mere feet away from them, boggles our minds. But one Putnam County couple did just that, living with 75 snakes, including 56 poisonous ones—and now, police suspect that one of those snakes killed one of the owners. “One of the strangest things I’ve ever dealt with since becoming sheriff of Putnam County,” Donald Smith told CBS. more ›

Clearly hearing stories of the big-time from his pals in the Bronx toilet system, one Florida Corn Snake decided it was time for him to take his shot at fame in the big city. A Queens man found a 2½-foot-long Corn Snake hiding in his car's engine yesterday morning. His car had just been shipped up from Florida, where the snakes are common (here they're kept mainly as pets). But now that Old St. Patrick's has even more papal power, the city can get in on all that snake-banning business. more ›

Anyone missing a pet boa constrictor? Yesterday, Emergency Service cop Michael D'Alessandro captured a massive boa constrictor that was seen on a bridge in Springfield Park in Queens. Officers said they didn't know the exact measurements of the snake, but judging from the Post photo it has to be at least five feet, right? One witness said, "I've seen strange creatures around here, but that's scary." The boa was put in a bag and brought to a local vet. At least it wasn't in anyone's toilet this time. more ›

Yesterday's report of a three-foot long corn snake popping up in a Bronx man's bathroom became instant e-mail forwarding fodder, even showing up in Weekly World News with the relatively tame (as compared to Bat Boy) headline of "FIRST BED BUGS, NOW TOILET SNAKES." But investigators are still puzzled as to just how the snake made it up to the 19th floor of the Soundview apartment building. more ›

Get ready to have nightmares forever! A Bronx man entering his bathroom in the middle of the night was shocked to find the toilet was already taken—by a three-foot long Corn Snake. He was so freaked out that the only thing he could muster to cops when they came was, "There's a giant snake on my toilet." How very 2007. more ›

Around 1 a.m. today a gas station attendant discovered a 5-foot-long python (not pictured) slithering through garbage on a sidewalk at East 161st Street in the Melrose section of the Bronx. "The snake was hissing at us!" Ricardo Andino tells the Daily News. "I've never seen one like it before." Police raced to the scene, but the python resisted arrest for almost a half hour. more ›

Feds are moving to keep the Burmese python and eight other large slithering species out of the United States, and specifically out of JFK. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the airport ban is important since New York is the biggest entry point to the U.S. for imported wildlife, reported AP. People bring snakes in as the pets, but often end up releasing them into the wild where they wreak havoc on delicate ecosystems like Florida's Everglades. Also on the chopping block are Indian pythons, Northern African pythons, Southern African pythons, reticulated pythons, boa constrictors and four species of anacondas. Before a final decision is made, the proposal will be open to a public hearing. more ›

Employees at a laundromat in Morningside Heights found a four-feet-long, nine-pound boa constrictor curled up between bags of clothes this morning. Animal Care and Control officials say the snake was safely removed by police and taken to its offices in East Harlem for a checkup. Jose Ortiz of Animal Care and Control tells NY1, "It's a very timid snake, not an aggressive snake at all." Yeah, that's probably because it was napping while digesting Snuggle. Animal Care and Control says the boa will be sent to a reptile sanctuary upstate and will eventually be released back into the wild. The incident is only the latest in a long line of surprise snake discoveries in the city; in June a Bronx woman discovered a five-foot long, tan-colored snake under her dining room table; in February two boys found a boa between the couch cushions in their Bensonhurst apartment, and who could forget the python in the toilet? Not us; that's why we're sleeping on our office desks in diapers and hand-washing our clothes! more ›

This morning yet another NYC family made the unsettling discovery that a snake had slithered into their apartment. (That's right, another—previously on home snake invasions: "Mom, there's a Boa in the couch!" and "Honey, there's a python in the pipes!") Maria Dominguez, a 37-year-old flower shop worker and mother of three, spotted the five-foot long, tan-colored snake (not pictured) under a living room table around 7 a.m. today. She tells the Daily News, "I don't know how it got there. I woke up, and the snake was just there." Dominguez herded the kids into a bedroom and called 911, which dispatched Emergency Services Unit cops to take the snake into custody. They managed to trap it with a broom and a plastic bag, and gave it over to Animal Care and Control, which is testing to see if it's venomous. The crisis was over in about an hour, and it's not known where the snake came from or how it got in. But Dominguez says "I want to move now," which suggests the work of a disgruntled neighbor who's just sick of her noisy kids. more ›

Two seven year old boys were coloring on the couch yesterday when a four foot boa constrictor peeked its head out from one of the couch cushions. "I felt something on my back," one of the boys, Jay Jhomar, tells the Post. "I was excited. At first I thought I found a toy in the couch... It was staring and waiting for someone to eat. I was a little scared, and we were screaming." Jay's mother Danielle summoned the police to her Bensonhurst home, and the snake was subsequently taken away by Animal Care and Control. It's believed to be an escaped pet, but the Post says boas are illegal to own in NYC and it will likely end up in an animal sanctuary. (Jay's futilely lobbying to keep it.) Danielle suspects the boa slithered in through an open window to try and get warm, but the Daily News has a more sinister theory: "The best guess is that the snake slithered into the first-floor apartment by way of a toilet." Aaaand we'll be refusing liquids and food until we can somehow forget about that image. more ›

The family who found a California King snake wrapped around a 7-month-old baby's leg on Monday has decided to sue the mattress manufacturer and store where the mattress was purchased. more ›

How a California King snake wound up in a Long Island Island baby's crib is up for debate. But what is known is that the 7-month-old whose leg had the snake coiled around it is safe. Her mother, though, not so much: Cari Abatemarco, who was visiting relatives in Brentwood, said, "Once I lifted [baby Isabella] up and the snake fell off of her, she stopped crying. But then I was the one crying all night." more ›